Prosperity is more than money. The Word has a lot to say about it. https://www.pexels.com/el-gr/photo/5847692/
[Some Christians teach that we should take a vow of poverty. This is consistent with Scriptures that teach we should NOT store up treasures hear on Earth. However, there are numerous Scriptures that promise we will prosper in our work and in the midst of persecutions. The purpose of this prosperity is to be a blessing to all nations. Unlike many famous online pastors, I know of two successful and prosperous online ministers that donate the majority of their earnings to ministries. They are Francis Chan and Andrew Wommack. The first step in praying for prosperity is to use your hands.]
[2Th 3:10 NKJV] 10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
[Deu 28:12-13 NKJV] 12 "The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. [you must use your hands to be blessed and prosper] You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
[Pray and expect God to bless the work of your hands and show you how to be a blessing to others].
[Psa 75:6-7 KJV] 6 For promotion [cometh] [from God] neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 7 But God [is] the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
[Luk 6:38 KJV] 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, men give into your bosom [God uses men to give into your life (bosom), He doesn’t create money from thin air, but men must respond to the prompting of God]. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
[Pray that God will send laborers to the harvest to speak words of truth to those whom He intends to have them give into your life].
[Jer 29:11-13 NIV] 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
[Gal 3:13-14 NKJV] 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed [is] everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham [see Gen 24:1] might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus [blessings without the curses of the law], that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
[Gen 24:1 NKJV] 1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
[Gen 26:1-4 NKJV] 1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed [Abraham’s blessings are for the purpose of blessing the nations]; … [Gen 26:12-13 NKJV] 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
[Gen 39:1-2 KJV] 1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. 2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man [Joseph was a slave with no money on the action block yet God calls him a prosperous man. Prosperity is more than money and worldly goods. It’s having the work of your hands blessed by God, gaining favor of men]; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
[Joseph was blessed ultimately so that all nations would be blessed. This is the prosperity promised by the Word that we should pray for.]
[Deu 28:2-14 NKJV] 2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: 3 "Blessed [shall] you [be] in the city, and blessed [shall] you [be] in the country. 4 "Blessed [shall be] the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 5 "Blessed [shall be] your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 "Blessed [shall] you [be] when you come in, and blessed [shall] you [be] when you go out. 7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 "The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, [you must use your hands to be blessed] and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 9 "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. 10 "Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 "And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 "The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand [you must use your hands to be blessed]. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 "And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe [them].
[Jos 1:8 NKJV] 8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, [In the morning when you get up, and at night before you go to bed.] that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
[Mar 10:29-30 NKJV] 29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30 "who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions [Accidents, disease, poverty, are results of living in a fallen world. These curses are NOT persecution but consequences of the fall of man in the Garden. Martyrdom, imprisonment, torture, beatings, unfair treatment because of our faith in Jesus, are what we should expect when we take a stand on the principles in the Word. And when they come, we should be ready to turn the other cheek, give up our coat, sacrifice everything, for the hope of witnessing to the persecutor. God’s will is that all would come to know Him! In everything else, including the evil curses, stealing, killing and destruction of this world, we fight and stand on God’s promises to receive 100-fold now in this time.] and in the age to come, eternal life.
[Pray these passages. Renew your mind with God’s Word and thereby transform the intents of your heart. It takes time to see results. While you wait, go to work with your hands, and watch God prosper that work, giving you favor even in the midst of promised persecutions, so you can be a blessing to all nations, just like Joseph.
I have to tell a testimony about how the Lord has provided for our family over the years. When Denise and I were first married, we prayed for and hoped to own a house someday. In 1988, after we were married, we moved into our first place together. It was a 1-bedroom apartment off the 210 freeway in downtown Pasadena where I had a part-time volunteer internship at the U.S. Center for World Mission, and a part time job at a grocery store 20 miles away, while Denise was carpooling to her full-time job 30 miles away in Redondo Beach. Outside our front door just beyond an 8-foot hedge were 4 lanes of frontage road, 20 lanes of freeway and ramps, and a rail line down the middle. Denise was working full time to be able to hold down the rent while I searched for a full-time job with my new geography degree from CSU Fullerton. For 2-years I searched for a job, going on several interviews, but never making the final cut. During that time, we prayed and hoped that I would find a job that could provide for a house and allow Denise to stay home and raise a family. It seemed impossible but the Lord answered or prayers with a county planning job back in Bakersfield where I grew up. We were able to purchase a 50-year old house on one income where prices were 1/3rd what they were in Southern California. We had our first daughter and after 2 years of working with the county I was laid off because of a slowdown in housing development. Now with a mortgage and small family we wondered how we were going to survive, but we trusted the Lord to take care of us, and with-in a month I was working a temporary assignment back at the County and in only 3 months found a position with the transportation planning agency – a great job for a geographer – and we never missed a payment. God provides and He knows how to give His kids good gifts.
Fast forward 25 years later and my first daughter was now in college. We had been praying for her future husband for all those years and while away at Bible college she never really met any worthy prospects. I heard there were 3 girls for every guy at that Bible college. She came back to our bigger, newer home by this time, and noticed a boy at church but tried not to let on. The boy went away to school but would come back periodically. After more than a year he came home and enrolled in the local university. After several months, one Sunday before church he came up to me and asked to court my daughter. During that time, he was looking for a job locally and found a notice on the computer science department’s bulletin board and submitted his resume. Unbeknownst to him the area manager was an elder in our church. The two had never met, but when the manager had begun researching his background, he found they had many online friends in common. He was hired and excelled at this new, well-paying oil related job, and almost a year after beginning their courtship, they were married, just as we had been praying for her all these years. The two purchased and moved into a beautiful 70-year old house purchased from a friend of the family in the boy’s old neighborhood he grew-up in and because they were dual income, no kids for the first 2 years of their marriage they put the bulk of their paychecks into the house and it was payed off 28-years early. That same week they found out she was pregnant with my first granddaughter. What a blessing to have them living in the same town and having them over several times a week to watch, play in the grass or read books. I’ve already started praying the promises in God’s Word for my 1-year old granddaughter now, and should the Lord choose to terry in His second coming, I believe she too will be blessed with wisdom and be in good health and proposer even as her soul prospers.]
[Eph. 3:20-21] 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
[We are blessed to be a blessing to others. Under the Law of Moses in the O.T., if you were to add up the required gifts, tithes (10%), and offerings, it could add up to 1/3rd of a families’ income. In our relationship with Jesus, we give as we are led by the Holy Spirit giving where we see a need. Here is one O.T. teaching can help guide you with your prayerful giving.]
[Neh 13:12 NKJV] 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse.
[Mal 3:10 NKJV] 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you [such] blessing That [there will] not [be room] enough [to receive it].
[The storehouse is where we keep the grain that feeds us.Prayerfully give to where you are fed with the Word of God. If people only gave to where they are fed, these ministries would prosper, and ministries and churches that are not providing the powerful teaching of God’s Word would die off.As you pray about your giving, listen for that still, small voice to help guide your giving—see tip 4) Prayer is 2-Way Communication.]
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